Asthma and Stress

Synonyms

Stress-induced Asthma

Definition

It is well accepted that stress is a modulator increasing the frequency, duration, and severity of the asthma symptoms. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms, although there are some reasonable models, such as decreased corticosteroid signals. Further investigations are needed.

Description

Asthma had been long considered as primarily psychogenic, often called asthma nervosa, until the inflammatory basis of the disease was revealed in the latter half of the twentieth century. In recent years, it is widely accepted that asthma is caused by chronic inflammation in the airway, and inhaled glucocorticoids which can inhibit the inflammation are recommended as the initial and primary therapy. Furthermore, because asthma itself in turn produces stress, the correlation between asthma and stress might be arise only from asthma-induced stress. Still, various observational studies indicate that asthma is greatly influenced by...